Silver Dragon (30 page)

Sir Amos smiled. "Thank you, Squire
. Now please find her and bring her back."

Squire Celos nodded and strode out of the throne room.

* * * *

Aleena returned from delivering a message to the no
rth gate. She was still shocked to learn that Alto was expecting a troll to visit. A troll with a goblin assistant, no less. She shook her head as she strode back towards the palace.

They'd been riding for a week and other than training at night
, she felt anxious and full of energy. She was really doing it: she was campaigning with the Knights of Leander. She broke into a jog and from that, a run. It wasn't far enough from the north gate to the palace for a proper workout but it felt good to stretch her legs and pull in a full breath.

She dropped to a jog and then stopped when she saw Celos emerge from the palace and start walking towards her. She reined in her good spirits and prepared herself for whatever abuse he was going to give her this time.

"Is there a problem?" Celos asked when she stopped before him.

"No, Squire, I was just running."

"Why?"

"
I haven't had the chance since we left Portland. I miss the exercise."

Celos nodded. "Sir Amos wants to see you."

Aleena felt her eyes widen and betray the butterflies in her stomach. "Of course, right away."

"Aleena," Celos said as she turned and took a step towards the doors of the palace. "
I want you to know that I believe you now."

Aleena looked at him. "You believe me? What is there to believe?"

"Your devotion. I believe you put Saint Leander first," he said.

Aleena couldn't stop the smile that made its way to her face. "Thank you, Squire."

"I don't know what Sir Amos wants with you," he added, "but if you ever disobey your orders again, I'll see to it you're flogged and dismissed from the church. Understood? And since you enjoy running so much, I think that when Sir Amos is done with you, if you're still able, you can run around the castle until the sun sets."

Aleena's smile faded. She stiffened. "Yes
, Squire."

"Good, now let's go." Celos turned smartly and walked back towards the palace.

Aleena followed but glanced to the sky. It was mid-afternoon and though the days were growing longer, she'd only have at the most a couple of hours of running ahead of her. She bit her tongue to keep from smiling. She was looking forward to the chance to clear her thoughts.

"Sir Amos, I've brought the recruit you requested," Celos said when they entered the throne room. He held the door for Aleena to enter
and then shut it behind them.

"Thank you, squire," Sir Amos said. He leaned back in his chair and looked up from the reports he'd been studying. "Trying to bring myself up to speed on the status of Highpeak. I hate to admit it, but I'm not as young as I used to be."

Aleena saw an opportunity to try to impress the knight. "I'm sure one of the baron's staff would be happy to assist."

Sir Amos raised an eyebrow. "You are enthusiastic and eager to please."

"Yes, sir, I am. So long as it doesn't betray Saint Leander's teachings."

"A wise answer," Sir Amos said. "A safe answer. Do you know why you're here, Aleena?"

"No, sir."

"You've made remarkable progress in the short time you've been with us. Has it been two months yet?" Sir Amos frowned and shrugged. "No matter, you behaved in a manner that violated your place in our order, but in doing so you saved many lives."

Aleena stared at Sir Amos as he paused. She wondered if she was supposed to respond or not. Her hesitation provided her answer when the knight continued.

"Recruit, it has been a great many years since something of this magnitude has occurred. Our numbers are sh
ort and I've watched you train. We need people like yourself and recruit Durak in our ranks, not running errands. I'm going to give you a field promotion to squire if you can complete a single test."

Aleena continued to stare at him while his words
sank in. Her lips parted and a breath slipped through them. She clamped them shut when she heard a matching breath from Celos. One thought occurred to her: her complete failure of the obstacle course. "What about the obstacle course?"

"I've seen you, Aleena. It's no challenge for you now."

Aleena nodded. "Thank you."

"Your task," Sir Amos continued, "is a duel with Squire Celos."

Aleena jerked her head to look at the squire. He continued to stare ahead. The only sign she saw of his surprise was the muscle twitching on his neck.

"Should you draw blood first
, you will earn the title of squire, the first woman to do so in more than two hundred years. Come, let us retire to the street of the battle earlier. It will draw attention and perhaps help the people to see such a sign of growth and change."

Aleena tilted her
head, surprised. She nodded, liking his idea. It was still a fight and there would be blood, but they also had priests ready to give aid. It was possible that Celos would strike her so deadly a blow that even a priest couldn't save her, but they both knew it wasn't supposed to be that severe.

She glanced at Celos again. She knew better than to try to cripple him, but did he feel the same? Would the thought of being bloodied by a woman be too much for him to bear?
Guards opened the doors for them as they neared the entrance, forcing her to rein her stray thoughts in and focus on the duel.

She and Celos moved to the center of the street while Sir Amos called for knights and guards to block off the road. "Take a few minutes to prepare yourselves," Sir Amos suggested after he looked at the slow afternoon traffic in the road.

Aleena put herself through her stretching routine she did before training every day. She ignored her opponent until she felt limbered up. Celos was swinging his sword when she looked at him. She saw no reason for his lazy swings, other than perhaps to get his blood flowing. She couldn't imagine needing that; after her brief jog and now the excitement of becoming a squire, her heart was beating strong and fast. Aleena drew her sword and began to thrust and cut as though she faced a training dummy.

Several minutes passed until Sir Amos cleared his throat, signaling them to stand at ease. Aleena saw Celos sheathe his blade
, so she did the same and then turned to face Sir Amos.

The paladin looked at both of them and then turned to address the curious crowd that was gathering. "In a tradition that dates back to the dawn of the Knights of Leander
, Recruit Aleena is being tested in the field for promotion to the rank of a squire. This is a duel to first blood. Recruit Aleena's opponent is Squire Celos, the most talented and promising young man I have yet to mentor." Sir Amos turned to face them and nodded. "Present your arms and begin."

Aleena mimicked Celos, drawing her sword and offering a salute to both Sir Amos and to her opponent. She improvised and raised her hand to her forehead and then her heart, the gesture to call for Saint Leander's blessing, and then walked forward to begin the duel.

She read about the duels between knights in the past. There were as many fought out of rivalry as there were for advancement or position. They were designed to allow for a civilized method of resolving disputes amongst royalty but it seldom caught on. Instead, it was picked up and used as a model for contests and tournaments.

Aleena had seen a tournament once, when she was younger. She'd been young enough to sit on her father's shoulders so she could see over the heads of others while traveling knights jousted and fought each other on a field. It had been exciting and terrifying. She'd dreamed for weeks of being chased by one of the giant men clad in metal, only to be saved by another armored man who fought as her champion. Aleena smiled and pushed the thought aside. Now she was on the way to being one of those knights, save that she and Celos fought without armor or shield in the true gentleman's fashion.

Aleena lunged forward when they finished their approach. She kept her body low but her sword angled up. Celos dodged to the side and swatted her blade away with his own but not before an errant lock of his hair drifted to the ground.

"This is to first blood, not death," Celos growled at her.

"That was an easy one," Aleena countered. "I wanted to make sure you didn't take it easy on me."

Celos hammered her sword with rapid strikes, trying to drive her blade down and away. "Not likely," he hissed while their swords were jammed against each other.

Aleena backed away, guiding his blade away from hers as he tried to take advantage of her retreat. She couldn't wipe the smile off her face. She was really doing it! Fighting against Durak, William, and the other recruits had become second nature to her. She knew their moves and she knew how to fight them. They learned her style and how to fight her, but she was still faster and able to adapt to them more quickly. She almost always won their skirmishes; only Durak could still occasionally land a blow against her.

Now she was fighting a squire. Not any squire, but one of the finest
, Sir Amos had said. Celos was strong, quick, and sure of himself, but she knew what to look for now. She used her speed to her advantage to keep him off balance. When she had to block instead of dodge his sword, she had no trouble doing it.

They moved back and forth on the road for several minutes, both of them gaining and losing momentum. Aleena passed up a few chances to bloody Celos because she knew that if she did
, it would mean he would strike her as well. Celos was trained to fight as a knight in armor, not as an unarmed swordsman. He adapted quickly and stopped offering her openings in his defense so that he could land a crippling blow. In a proper battle, he'd shrug off the strikes against his armor but here, without armor, it would mean something else altogether.

They continued to rally back and forth, steel striking steel and Aleena showing that her training had been complete. She grinned when Celos showed signs of becoming frustrated by her defense. "What did you expect?" Aleena asked him after they exchanged a flurry of blows. "You trained me."

Celos snorted at her taunt. "You're not ready for this," he told her. "I'm trying not to embarrass you because you show promise. Another year of training and maybe you'll be ready..."

"Oh?" Aleena took a step back to disengage and asked him.
She'd learned from him and seen him fight many times. She'd taken his measure in the first several minutes of their duel. He was good, but she knew she could beat him. They were fighting the way she'd trained to fight, not his way. She lowered her sword, offering the appearance of being defenseless. "I don't think it's chivalry. I think you can't beat me and you know it. Prove me wrong. Cut me, Squire. Show me how much better you are than a girl."

Celos's lip curled up in a snarl. He stepped forward and swung his sword at her, only to have her catch it and knock it away. Aleena stood her ground while Celos struck at her again and again. Her arms were getting tired and her lungs began to burn but she felt more alive than she'd ever felt. Celos's swings were coming slower as well, perhaps even slower than hers. His lips were parted to allow grunts with each strike he crashed into her defenses.

"Why won't you fall?" he grunted as she continued to meet his attacks without dodging or deflecting them.

"I fight for Saint Leander, not for myself," Aleena told him.

Celos fell back, his eyes wide from her words. "Do you dare question my motives?"

Aleena swung her sword at him, nearly catching him unaware. He blocked her strike and then had to continue blocking as she began her own series of brutal attacks. He shrugged them off with ease at first but they kept coming with slash after thrust after chop.

With Celos forced on the defensive, Aleena switched from her direct assault to the more nimble style of fighting that she'd perfected against the other recruits. After driving the rapid cuts in a row at the squire that he had to block, she spun away and squatted low as she swung her sword in a backhanded slash. She felt the air of his passing sword over her head and tightened her wrist to prepare for the impact of her blade against his leg.

Aleena cried out as she felt her hip stabbed. It made her think of being stung by a bee, only a thousand times over in the same spot. She fell away from it, throwing herself across the ground and trying to rise back up. Fire swept up her spine and down her leg, making her gasp again. She rose up slowly, grimacing even with most of her weight on her uninjured leg.

She lost. She was so sure of herself but somehow Celos had reacted in time and managed to cut her. Not just cut her—he'd stabbed her good. She glanced down and saw the blood running down her leg from beneath her pants. It was in and on her boot.

Aleena had never let go of her sword, something she'd learned early on while sparring. She winced as she moved, putting weight on her leg and causing fresh blood to pour out of it. She brought it across her body and went to sheathe it,
and then noticed the glistening red on her blade.

The recruit jerked her head up and stared at Celos. He was favoring a red
-stained leg and was staring down at it. He looked up and their eyes met, each showing surprise to find the other looking at them. Aleena opened and closed her mouth. Who'd struck first?